Humans and animals have long played, recreated, worked out, trained, competed, and the like by moving through a defined distance. The defined distance may be along a defined path in a three-dimensional space with a defined start and a defined finish. For example, the defined distance may be within a track, course, or any suitable defined path. The movement may include running, walking, climbing, crawling, sliding, swimming, exercising, mastering obstacles, walking on hands, remotely controlling and/or riding vehicles including wheel chairs, cycles and so on. The movement may be performed by an individual human, an individual animal, or groups of humans or animals. For example, participants may be in a group spanning a distance together, such as in a wheelbarrow race.
A track or course includes a start area, defined confines, a defined path in three-dimensional space, and a finish area. The track can be defined along any path, such as horizontal, upwards, downwards, vertical, along obstacles, in water, air, on snow or ice, along ropes etc. and any combination thereof. The track can combine different media to move along or in, such as a rope leading into water, then going up a climbing wall, among other things. The confines can vary along the path of the track, i.e. it can be wider at some point and narrower at another point. The confines can be three-dimensional, such as a tube, a tunnel, a cavity, a path defined under water or a climbing course, stairs, down a snow or ice covered slope, and the like. As long as a user crosses from the start area into the track, stays within the confines of the track, and crosses from the track to the finish area, the track provides a defined, repeatable length of the moving distance in space and thus can be used to time a user and compare results for several users.
Several tracks next to each other with the same features can be used to determine the winners in competition, to compare the individually measured times of each user in each track, and so on.
Recognizing the wide variety of uses for tracks, the following description uses the example of a track in a flat, horizontal plane used by at least one human running a race. The race has a start, a finish, and a defined path. The disclosed embodiments are representative of preferred forms of the invention, but are intended to be illustrative rather than definitive of the invention, particularly regarding the form of the track and regarding the definition of the use, such as racing, walking, crawling, sliding, or such.
A variety of existing devices, such as stopwatches, clocks, counters, electronic timing systems, and the like, are currently used to measure the time elapsed from the start to finish of a race. The devices typically provide start information signaling the start of the race and measuring the time that elapses from that start information until the runner has crossed the finish line.
The person providing the timing, here called the timer person, can be either a runner themselves or an additional person who operates the timing system. The timer person may provide the start information, for example, by calling out “On your mark, Get set, Go”. The pre-start signal, for example “On your mark, set” is the time interval where runners are in the start area front of the start line, ready to run, but are not allowed to move. The start signal, for example “go”, signals that the runners may move from the start area into the track and should race down the track. There can be additional optical, audible or other signaling at the start signal such as a flash, a shot, beeps, vibration, etc. At the start signal the time measurement is started. The runner runs down the track and when he or she crosses the finish line into the finish area the clock is stopped and the elapsed time is presented as race time.
An example of an embodiment of such a system is a track to run on and a clock with a display, a start function, a finish or stop function, and the ability to measure and display the time elapsed between the start and the finish.
The start function can be provided for example by a button, for example next to the start line. The timer person provides the start signaling to the at least one runner and pushes the button which starts the clock. While racing, the clock measures the elapsed time since the start. When the first runner crosses the finish line the clock is stopped by the timer person, for example, with the same button that was used for start, or a different button. The elapsed time is displayed. The cycle may be repeated for additional races.
Systems like the one described above need an operator, either a separate person or at least one runner. For unsupervised users who wish to play, recreate, train, race, etc. this is undesirable because it prevents them from doing so or adds additional distractions and hurdles for their desired activity.
In the example of a playground or swimming pool where a track system is installed for the use of unsupervised children and adults of all ages and abilities, a system that is easy to use is desirable. In particular, a system that automatically conducts timing is desirable.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.